Sports

Duke freshmen Tre Jones and Cam Reddish both sat out, allowing Barrett and Williamson to display every part of their game.

Written ByTravis Durkee

The Duke debuts for R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson could not have gone much better.

The duo combined for 63 points as Barrett, the consensus top player in the 2018 class, scored 34 and Williamson, the high-flying No. 2 player in the class, poured in 29 with 13 rebounds in an 86-67 exhibition win over Ryerson in Toronto on Wednesday.

“R.J. (Barrett) and Zion (Williamson) carried us, but that’s what they should do. They did a good job of it,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game.

Barrett and Williamson did a fair share of damage at the rim and connected on this alley-top ion the fourth quarter to essentially put the game out of reach:

“We haven’t had many practices so we’re a little rusty as you can see, but just getting on the court with Zion was great,” Barrett said after the game. “It’s easy to play with him. He’s very athletic and he knows how to play. He’s also able to knock down open 3s and do a lot of different things really well.”

Duke freshmen Tre Jones and Cam Reddish both sat out, allowing Barrett and Williamson to display every part of their game. Williamson, largely recognized for his size (6-7, 285 pounds) and athleticism, showed nice touch from deep going 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

“He was just a really unique basketball player tonight,” Krzyzewski said of Williamson. “Zion is just a different type of athlete. I can’t think of anyone in the ACC. That doesn’t mean that he’s the best athlete ever, but if we’re sitting around at a small table, he’s sitting at that table with a few others in the conference.”